Are hamsters nocturnal, crepuscular or diurnal? Debate!

[Maz]

Syrian hamsters are often called nocturnal. Others say they are crepuscular (coming out at dawn and dusk). Diurnal apparently means during the day. Most of us find Syrian Hamsters are mainly active at night, in the dark - some will come out early of mid evening and some will still be out in the morning (some later than others).

This research is interesting though as they found that in the wild, female Syrian hamsters are diurnal - coming out early morning and early evening (maybe the same as crepuscular?!) But during daylight. Mainly for foraging. It doesn't seem to mention what male hamsters do.

Yet in domestic or laboratory settings they are nocturnal. Could it be that they only come out at night because it's quiet and there are no humans/predators around?!

I had always thought it was to do with their eyes - evolved to see better in the dark.

Also if wild hamsters come out during the day to forage - when do they do their 15 mile a night sprint? Or is that in the early hours when foraging.

The invesigation itself does say that some things didn't work out (I think establishing how often they left their burrows).

Golden hamsters are nocturnal in captivity but diurnal in nature

Daily activity rhythms are nearly universal among animals and their specific pattern is an adaptation of each species to its ecological niche. Owing to the extremely consistent nocturnal patterns of activity shown by golden hamsters (Mesocricetus auratus) ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

 

[elusive]

I’ll have to come back & read that later but I do find it interesting how much it seems to vary with species & I’m sure it’s different with wild & domesticated hamsters.
Never having had a Syrian I can only go by what I’ve heard from others but they do seem to lean toward being more nocturnal.
I’ve found both Chinese & Russians to be quite active during the day but most active early morning & evening which suggest crepuscular instincts but without the threat of predators more activity throughout the day too.

 

[Socks Mum]

Could it be something to do with heat as well? Conserving energy might mean sleeping and building up reserves before going out?

 

[Socks Mum]

I.e. trying to avoid digesting and working at the same time.

 

[Maz]

Could it be something to do with heat as well? Conserving energy might mean sleeping and building up reserves before going out?

That's a good point! My Syrians have always come out earlier when it's warmer!

 

[Lovelyness]

Blossom comes out somewhere around 5 - 6 pm when I top up her food bowl and scatter feed. She often comes out somewhere between 7-9pm and potters around her cage for a bit. She often comes out as I turn the light out and head up for bed. I quite often hear her in her nest during the day having a search through her stash and having a snack, although she doesn’t tend to emerg from her nest during the day.

 

[Jain]

Interesting article but Pete doesn't conform to anything he comes out at any given hour we see him early morning to late evening and sometimes hear him on his wheel during the night

 

[Maz]

Yes I think the article on really refers to Syrian Hamsters. Dwarf hamsters do have very different patterns. Quite a few will come out during the day - others mid evening. Some of that might depend on their personality but some also perhaps on their owners routine? Eg if someone is out at work all day the hamster might not bother to come out so much during the day perhaps?

Blossom is a good example of how Syrians can basically adapt their habits depending on what time food is put out! I have noticed the same thing. If you have a regular feeding time of say 5pm or 6pm a Syrian hamster will start waking at that time. With mine they have often not been interested in coming out at that time though - just getting the food and going back to bed. That doesn't mean they go back to sleep. I think they nap and snack and just stay in their home sometimes.

But yes a more gregarious Syrian will often be out by about 9pm. If it's a noisy household, some may wait till after dark to come out maybe? So personality as well as human habits.

With our first Syrian I probably observed his behaviour much more closely than any others, as it helped me learn about hamsters. With him for example - he would be quite fast and hyper around 6pm (eg if he was out of the cage at feeding time). But between 8pm and 9.30pm he would be a bit more dopey and would go to sleep on you or on the sofa. By 10pm - his night time speed and foraging instincts kicked in.

 

[Socks Mum]

I wonder if dwarf hamsters come out during the day because they have very high metabolism being small and need to eat more frequently

 

[elusive]

They would eat mostly from the hoard except in spring or summer they might be eating more fresh shoots & leave so I think it’s most likely to do more with the environment they live in, type of habitat & prevalence of predators, it may also be more of an adaptation in domesticated hamsters.